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Bill and the Bible
Helen Nesbiitt Week 3
In the novel Billy Budd, Sailor, by Herman Melville, the author uses many biblical references to describe the characters of the book and their actions. The lead character is easily seen as analogous to such biblical characters as Abel, Adam, and Jesus while the antagonist, Claggart, is cast in the roles of Cain, the Serpent, or Judas. The final lead character, Captain Vere, is depicted in the light of a patrician God, omniscient and kind but who ultimately must pass judgment. The story depicts the undoing of it characters through the basic human flaws of man as conscripted from tales from the Bible and through both texts the morals are parallel.
As in the tale of Cain and Abele, Claggert’s hatred of Billy Budd stems from his envy of him; likewise it is through deep rooted envy that precipitates the undoing of both.
”Well, though many an arraigned mortal has in hopes of mitigated penalty pleaded guilty to horrible actions, did ever anybody seriously confess to envy? Something there is in it universally felt to be more shameful than even felonious crime.” (pg. 51)
There is no casual reason for any of the characters mentioned to commit such atrocities against each other besides deep spiritual flaw. In the biblical story Cain is over taken with anger towards his brother when his gifts to God are dismissed as inferior to Abel, he plots to kill him and then conceives falsehoods which he relates to God to hide this dreadful act. Although in Billy Budd the murder plays out in reverse, the reason for it- mans fatal flaw of jealousy towards his fellow man- is still the cause. In Melville’s book he even goes as far as to cast Billy and Claggert in roles not unlike that of torn brothers where what should be love is replaced by feelings of rivalry and hate.
“Yes, and sometimes the melancholy expression would have in it a touch of soft yearning, as if Claggart could even have loved Billy but for fate and ban.” (pg. 66)
Billy is seen here has the hapless younger to Claggarts petty and jealous older, what could have been a bond of love is broken by fates and emotions beyond both of their control. Just as easily has that of a murderous Cain, Claggert is easily depicted during the course of Melville’s novel as the Serpent in Billy Budds garden.
Throughout the book Claggert is likened to a Serpent, that sly creature who plots Billy Budds undoing as easily has the Biblical Serpent orchestrated the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The picture of a sly and evil trickster Claggert seduces Billy into believing them to be friends before attempting to pin on him the deadly crime of mutiny. Through this transgression against the ever innocent Billy Budd Claggert loses his human features and reverts directly into the form of the devil Serpent.
“Those lights of human intelligence, losing human expression, were gelidly protruding like that of the alien eyes of certain creatures of the deep. The first mesmeristic glance was that of serpent fascination; the last was as the parallelizing lurch of the torpedo fish.” (pg. 81)
